Breathing The Other
by uniform beautiful
Summary: These are drabbles about Azula and Ty Lee.
1. Fires

**_Fires_**

Azula's eyes are like fire. Cold and sharp and hateful when she looks at anyone or anything. I always thought that that was what fire was, what I saw in Azula's eyes when she looked at other people—cold and waiting to burn. A threat to the living, a doorway to death and pain and suffering.

But I soon found out that there were two kinds of fire. The other kind I discovered when I stared into her eyes when she was watching me. This fire is warm and inviting and wanting. Wanting to be fed and happy to feed, a playful hunger like a puppy waiting for a treat. When she noticed I was watching her back her eyes turned cold again and she looked away as if it was some terrible crime she had committed—ashamed that I had caught her. But from then on I noticed her warmth and love in her eyes. I just hoped she didn't notice it in mine when I gazed back.


	2. Perfect

**_Perfect_**

I never knew perfection manifested in a human being. Even I saw my own flaws—I was nothing special to look at, and I tended to scare people away. The latter was a good trait I generally liked, except when it happened to someone I didn't want to scare away.

But I saw perfection in my friend Ty Lee, and was ashamed of it because I was so attracted to perfection. Especially her perfection. She was my total opposite, both in personality and appearance. She was too beautiful to look at, and too graceful to be a human.

Most people saw in her eyes an emptiness that reflected lack of intelligence. Empty eyes with a silly smile. They saw such an outgoing personality in her eyes that they felt comfortable approaching her just for a worthless conversation worth a penny. And I guess maybe this really was in her eyes, but what I saw in her eyes, when she looked at me, was quite different.

And how wonderful it was when she looked at me. It was something I rarely got, but when I did felt its cool breeze on my warm body. It was almost as if she was gracing me just by look at me, and for some reason this excited me in a way nothing else could.

When her eyes fell on mine and locked into a gaze, what others saw melted away. I saw intellect, as if she was thinking about something hard when she gazed at me, mulling it over and over again in her mind. Calculating it. And that bubbly, outgoing personality would disappear too. I saw something more sober and subdued, as if she wasn't quite sure where to go next but was just fine at where she was then. It baffled me, for what I saw in her gaze on me was so different than what I saw when she looked at others. Her gaze tried to reach out of her eyes to me, saying, '_Do you see me? Do you see me watching you?_' It was haunting, and made me scared. I was scared of nothing; I was the feared. But that look made me turn away, for I did not know what would happen if I continued to look.

It wasn't just her gaze that attracted me to her; it was everything about her, out and in. She had a perfect everything, and she knew it. That confidence bit me hard and lit me up inside. It was baffling. I was utterly stunned by her. Dazzled. Beside her, I would crumble. I could walk the Earth, and not find anyone like her. This sort of behavior was what I detested. Such girly, happy, giggly things I saw as disgusting. But in Ty Lee they were things I wanted. I wanted _her_, and much with everything else I had ever wanted, I was going to get it.


	3. Stripped

**_Stripped_**

It was hot with a cool breeze. Such perfect weather could not be denied your body in the midst of it. So I ventured out into the court yard, squinting my eyes against the glare off the sparkling pond.

My breath caught slightly when I saw her back to me. She sat with perfect posture, her little pink clothes sodden and plastered to the curves of her body like a second skin. Her hair was out of the braid, dripping and gathered into her fist as she squeezed the little dropplets out of it. She was humming loudly, something I wish I could do without feeling embarrassed. Her humming, as plain and innocent as that sounds, was more beautiful than the sound of water bubbling around pebbles, or wind rusting the leaves of trees. _You are far too perfect for your own good,_ I thought, slightly angry. Or jealous. I rarely could distinguish emotions around Ty Lee.

She looked over her shoulder when she heard me approach, the hum falling off her lips as she broke into a smile brighter than the sun. She called my name and stood, rushing to me to throw her arms around me. I normally wouldn't let anyone, under any circumstances, who was dripping hug me, but I enjoyed these little harmless hugs from her.

She pulled away and started commenting on the weather, happily looking up at the birds crossing through the sky. Ty Lee was always doing something with her gift of flexibility. She balanced on the toes of one foot, catching the other and pulling it up over her head. There was something in the way she could move that shouldn't be allowed. She continued to babble away, dropping her foot and pulling me over to the pond, instructing me to jump in. I told her I wouldn't.

It's fun, she said.

No thank you, I said, more firmly. She shrugged and jumped back in, rippling the water. I decided this weather was at least worth me taking my shoes off. I sat on the edge and dangled my feet in the water, watching Ty Lee without a care in the world.

Aaaaazuuuuulaaaa, she sang from the pond, beckoning for me to get in and join her. I wanted to, very much.

No, I said despite myself.

Please? she asked, pouting her lower lip and gazing up at me. I rarely smile, but this made me break into a grin. I shrugged and slipped in, feeling water close over my head and pull my hair out of its bun.

Ty Lee giggled and swam over to me. We both floated there, treading water and looking at each other. I wasn't quite sure what to do next, until Ty Lee pulled her shirt off. Next her pants until she was just in her underwear. I avoided staring at her chest and realized that my clothes felt uncomfortable submerged. I quickly stripped as well, and our clothes lay in a dark, wet pile in the grass. Once again I didn't know what to do next, but that was because my mind was blank. A strangely calm blank. Ty Lee floated closer and closer to me, and I floated closer and closer to her. We were like magnets.

I didn't know what it was, but suddenly we were very, very close. I could feel her breath, slightly shaky and heightened. My hand found the slick curve of her hip, and hers rested on my shoulder. We both pulled each other closer until our mouths touched. It lasted a few seconds, but made my heart pound dangerously.

We pulled away quickly and said nothing of it.


	4. Drugs

**_Drugs_**

The music was loud and fast. The room crowded with bodies. I was beginning to feel whatever it was I had swallowed about half an hour ago spread its numb fingers through my mind, making it swirl in tiny frenzies. I didn't know to explain it, but it was fast and dizzying and wonderful. I was giddy with it, and I needed desperately to move but I had no one to move with.

We looked at each other and smiled shy smiles. Even with all this euphoria going in my head and in hers we were still uncomfortable with each other. In the pond we had unofficially voiced our feelings, but now there was a strange tension between us.

We had come here to have fun, but everybody was dancing like they had been previously paired off. It made us feel uncomfortable, because neither of us had planned on dancing with each other.

Well this is boring, she commented. My body itched to dance or move, my mind swirled with the lust for it.

I don't have anyone to dance with, was all I could say.

I don't want to dance. It looks silly.

No, it looks fun. I want to dance. Just a little, off to the side.

Azula shot me a glance. I stared back. Her eyes voiced her opinion. 'Do I have to?' I grabbed her hand and pulled her off to the side, away from most of the writhing mass of bodies. Against the wall.

We held each other and danced, but I desperately wanted to kiss her again. I know she did too. Azula was so shy, and not that I wasn't, but I decided that if I didn't do it she wouldn't.

And with our hands on each others bodies, swaying gently and not with the music, brains swirling with happiness, our lips locked and didn't untangle until they were numb and tingling and slick. Late in the night.


	5. Control

**_Control_**

She was in control of me, just like I was in control of her. But in this case I was surrendered to her. Her arms pinning me down to the cushions, her chest heaving with breath. Mine was too, pumping up and down as my heart slammed like it wanted out. I felt her lips, so warm and soft yet so fierce it was shocking. I kissed her back as best I knew how. We were both moving so fast it seemed as if we had to memorize the other but only had a few minutes to do so. I wanted desperately to reach up and run my hands through her hair, dark and spilling like a curtain of black wine on silk after she had taken it out of its hold. But her grip on me was strong, too strong for me to fight against. She let out a low growl when I tried to force against her, and her mouth moved down to my neck. I gasped in a high-pitched intake of breath and tipped my head back. It was so warm, it was all so warm, and I didn't want any of it to end.

I heard my name in her breath as if she was breathing me. I moaned hers; it was the only word I could remember. My mind was such a blank, an empty blank that was just telling me to go on.

Her grip left me to remove my clothes. I felt a rush of blood to my hands and arms, which I hadn't noticed go numb. I sat up and gripped her shirt, removing fastens with shaky tingly fingers; at last just resorting to tearing it. A flash of heat was at my side, so sharp it made me gasp and flinch. But it was just fire, burning a hole through my shirt so she could tear it and my bra off. At the time I didn't care, we continued to tear each other to shreds until first shirts then pants were gone, fragments littering the floor and bed. My hair slipped from its tie and splashed over the sheets when I flopped backwards. I lifted my head enough to kiss her again, running my hand up her bare thigh.

We flipped over several times, gripping sheets and bed post and each other, so numb with excitement and fear our muscles couldn't hold. Staying in one place ended up in cramping.

She was slick with moisture and warm. My fingers mimicked her pulsing, gently stroking the gasps out of her just like she was doing to me. Our breathing--thick with sounds that weren't words--made kissing become futile so that we quickly forgot about it.

We changed position again. Her hand pressed down my knee, the other one tracing the inside of my thigh. Her tongue dragged over me, and I shivered and moaned, the pulsations so strong it made me jump. The red fabric that was in fists was scarred and slightly damp when I unclenched it. I said her name over and over again. Azula was the only word in my mind, an empty ocean.

Things faded that night as we lost control.

**This is the last chapter,** **but I might write more **


End file.
